The unfolding of language: Looks like a very interesting book

I came across this review in "World Wide Words", an email newsletter (remember those?) about ... well, words. Here's an excerpt from the review:

"He takes readers through introductory topics such as syntax, case endings, grammatical gender, and the curiosities of Semitic nouns, in which a set of three consonants creates a template within which detailed meaning is carried by the interspersed vowels (so shalom, salaam, Solomon, Islam, and Muslim are variants on the root s-l-m).

He quotes examples in English of what seem to be abrupt changes in sense—resent three hundred years ago mean to appreciate or feel grateful for, practically the opposite of its modern sense." (from World Wide Words, "The Unfolding of Language")